Which Optima yellow top battery will fit
10-29-2018, 11:19 PM
#21
If most battery companies have been purchased and the product cheapened why not just buy a Costco Battery for $80 and be done with it? That is what I will probably buy for my Vette. Great return warranty for 42 months. No questions asked. No depreciation cost to pay for warranty replacement. They are made by Interstate Batteries. Not their best batteries though. Those would be the Megatron Plus. These are like regular megatron with 700 CCA.
10-30-2018, 09:09 AM
#22
E-Ray, 3LZ, ZER, LIFT
Member Since: Sep 2007
Location: NE South Carolina
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^^^
Just checked out of curiosity: "Interstate Batteries is a privately owned company that markets automotive batteries manufactured by Exide Technologies, Johnson Controls and others through independent distributors."
Interesting there are a marketing company, so one more layer of profit, Johnson Controls (or other manufacturer), Interstate to Costco!
While touring the Johnson Controls battery plant in town, after charging the assembled batteries in large water filled trays (to almost the battery top to keep them cool) a hundred or so batteries go down a roller conveyor where folks put on various labels! I asked the engineer who conducted the tour why there were differences in warranty? He said it's like buying insurance, our warranty is the same to the distributor but they can give whatever they wish and charge accordingly!
In fairness they do make several types, some in different colored plastic cases. Also an AGM battery is made with different construction and do performed at a higher level and longer.
Last year our ASME local section toured the new Johnson Controls battery reclamation plant in town. Of interest they recycle 99% of the battery material including making plastic pellets of the case material that gets sent to their plants making cases! They smash ~1600 used car batteries/hour. The lead goes through huge furnaces and several refining steps. They make two lead alloys, one for posts and pure lead for the plates. Impressive operation.
Just checked out of curiosity: "Interstate Batteries is a privately owned company that markets automotive batteries manufactured by Exide Technologies, Johnson Controls and others through independent distributors."
Interesting there are a marketing company, so one more layer of profit, Johnson Controls (or other manufacturer), Interstate to Costco!
While touring the Johnson Controls battery plant in town, after charging the assembled batteries in large water filled trays (to almost the battery top to keep them cool) a hundred or so batteries go down a roller conveyor where folks put on various labels! I asked the engineer who conducted the tour why there were differences in warranty? He said it's like buying insurance, our warranty is the same to the distributor but they can give whatever they wish and charge accordingly!
In fairness they do make several types, some in different colored plastic cases. Also an AGM battery is made with different construction and do performed at a higher level and longer.
Last year our ASME local section toured the new Johnson Controls battery reclamation plant in town. Of interest they recycle 99% of the battery material including making plastic pellets of the case material that gets sent to their plants making cases! They smash ~1600 used car batteries/hour. The lead goes through huge furnaces and several refining steps. They make two lead alloys, one for posts and pure lead for the plates. Impressive operation.
Last edited by JerryU; 10-30-2018 at 09:17 AM.
10-30-2018, 01:07 PM
#23
Pro
OptimaJim
I had a 2005 C6 that I drove year round in Canada (Ottawa, Ontario area) and it routinely saw very very cold temperatures. The coldest I remember is a trip from Toronto, Ontario to Ottawa, Ontario and in the Ottawa area it was -27 deg C (approx. -16 deg F). I never had any issues with the plastic body or the plastic mono springs. The only thing I noticed is that at that temperature the Pirelli Sottozeros were beginning to freeze and get quite hard and slippery.
BTW, that car had an Optima red top battery that never failed to start the car....even in those types of winter conditions. I had 327,000 kms (slightly more than 200,000 miles) on the car when I sold it for my C7. It is not winter driven.
I had a 2005 C6 that I drove year round in Canada (Ottawa, Ontario area) and it routinely saw very very cold temperatures. The coldest I remember is a trip from Toronto, Ontario to Ottawa, Ontario and in the Ottawa area it was -27 deg C (approx. -16 deg F). I never had any issues with the plastic body or the plastic mono springs. The only thing I noticed is that at that temperature the Pirelli Sottozeros were beginning to freeze and get quite hard and slippery.
BTW, that car had an Optima red top battery that never failed to start the car....even in those types of winter conditions. I had 327,000 kms (slightly more than 200,000 miles) on the car when I sold it for my C7. It is not winter driven.
10-30-2018, 01:37 PM
#24
Drifting
All batteries will be Johnson control, Exide or Deca. Can't remember if there's one more but thats who makes all the batteries reguardless of the sticker on them.
10-30-2018, 02:33 PM
#25
^^^
Just checked out of curiosity: "Interstate Batteries is a privately owned company that markets automotive batteries manufactured by Exide Technologies, Johnson Controls and others through independent distributors."
Interesting there are a marketing company, so one more layer of profit, Johnson Controls (or other manufacturer), Interstate to Costco!
While touring the Johnson Controls battery plant in town, after charging the assembled batteries in large water filled trays (to almost the battery top to keep them cool) a hundred or so batteries go down a roller conveyor where folks put on various labels! I asked the engineer who conducted the tour why there were differences in warranty? He said it's like buying insurance, our warranty is the same to the distributor but they can give whatever they wish and charge accordingly!
In fairness they do make several types, some in different colored plastic cases. Also an AGM battery is made with different construction and do performed at a higher level and longer.
Last year our ASME local section toured the new Johnson Controls battery reclamation plant in town. Of interest they recycle 99% of the battery material including making plastic pellets of the case material that gets sent to their plants making cases! They smash ~1600 used car batteries/hour. The lead goes through huge furnaces and several refining steps. They make two lead alloys, one for posts and pure lead for the plates. Impressive operation.
Just checked out of curiosity: "Interstate Batteries is a privately owned company that markets automotive batteries manufactured by Exide Technologies, Johnson Controls and others through independent distributors."
Interesting there are a marketing company, so one more layer of profit, Johnson Controls (or other manufacturer), Interstate to Costco!
While touring the Johnson Controls battery plant in town, after charging the assembled batteries in large water filled trays (to almost the battery top to keep them cool) a hundred or so batteries go down a roller conveyor where folks put on various labels! I asked the engineer who conducted the tour why there were differences in warranty? He said it's like buying insurance, our warranty is the same to the distributor but they can give whatever they wish and charge accordingly!
In fairness they do make several types, some in different colored plastic cases. Also an AGM battery is made with different construction and do performed at a higher level and longer.
Last year our ASME local section toured the new Johnson Controls battery reclamation plant in town. Of interest they recycle 99% of the battery material including making plastic pellets of the case material that gets sent to their plants making cases! They smash ~1600 used car batteries/hour. The lead goes through huge furnaces and several refining steps. They make two lead alloys, one for posts and pure lead for the plates. Impressive operation.
10-30-2018, 03:08 PM
#26
After a number of Mexican Optima failures, I moved on to Made in USA Odyssey and never looked back. So far they are doing well in my C7, diesel truck and my motorcycle. Optimas drop in quality lost this customer forever. The failures were in a Ford GT that was always on a battery maintainer when not being driven and in a diesel pickup that was driven daily.
Lastly, Odyssey has a direct fit battery for the C7.
Lastly, Odyssey has a direct fit battery for the C7.
Last edited by jcthorne; 10-30-2018 at 03:10 PM.
10-30-2018, 03:30 PM
#27
E-Ray, 3LZ, ZER, LIFT
Member Since: Sep 2007
Location: NE South Carolina
Posts: 29,549
Received 9,640 Likes
on
6,640 Posts
^^
Remined of the joke about the famous bridge builder who no one every said was a “great bridge builder.” But the punch line is no longer PC! Hard to regain from a bad reputation.
I made a special holder for their largest Yellow Top for my ProStreet Rod that fit those round cells so was pleased Jegs and Summit said it was fine. It’s located in a small cubbyhole in the right rear. Bought from a cheaper Internet source.
Johnson Controls is a first class company and it was just a matter of time before they rotated managers and got it right !
Remined of the joke about the famous bridge builder who no one every said was a “great bridge builder.” But the punch line is no longer PC! Hard to regain from a bad reputation.I made a special holder for their largest Yellow Top for my ProStreet Rod that fit those round cells so was pleased Jegs and Summit said it was fine. It’s located in a small cubbyhole in the right rear. Bought from a cheaper Internet source.
Johnson Controls is a first class company and it was just a matter of time before they rotated managers and got it right !
Last edited by JerryU; 10-30-2018 at 03:40 PM.
11-04-2018, 08:15 PM
#28
Drifting
Me and the wife have had a RedTop in her 04 Tahoe Z71 since 2012 with no issues except a few times its failed to start but a quick jump and we're good, think it's a glitch in the ole gurl! The truck not the wife LOL!!! Also PM'd you Optima Jim.
11-15-2018, 10:00 AM
#29
Premium Supporting Vendor
I apologize for the delay in following up on this thread. The SEMA Show and preparation for PRI kind of dominates this part of my year. To provide an updated answer to your question Gvnski, I know a little bit about batteries, but I'm always interested to learn more. I often see claims that attempt to correlate a perceived change in quality of Optima products with various activities involving our brand, like JCI's acquisition or whether a specific retailer carries or no longer carries our products. When I ask for more information as I did with cowboy casey, the responses I get are very similar anecdotal rationalizations- well I saw another company get bought by someone and I think their products aren't any good anymore or I had a buddy whose friend told him something. It's basically personal opinion being presented as some kind of substantiated truth, when it's really just a personal opinion.
Johnson Controls did acquire the Optima brand almost 20 years ago and the quality of our products and the length of our free replacement warranty has only increased under their ownership. I don't say that based on my personal opinion, but based on everything I've seen firsthand as an employee of the company- a brand-new production facility, significant improvements in the production process itself that have significantly increased product consistency and continued innovations in new products designed to perform even better and last even longer than the competition.
I know some brands get sold off and compromised while a company milks what's left of a brand's reputation, but those examples don't follow anything that I've witnessed with our brand. We still manufacture all of our own batteries in our own production facility and they are the only batteries made there. We never outsource production, re-spec or re-brand our batteries for any of our retail partners- all common tactics and compromises used by companies looking to maximize profit on brands they don't have a long-term investment in. In the interest of full disclosure, our parent corporation announced the sale of their entire battery division yesterday, which I expect will fuel more unfounded and unsubstantiated speculation about our brand, but that goes with the territory.
JerryU, I wish our website worked as well as our batteries. Updating the fitment guides on thousands of vehicle combinations is a long process that often lags further behind product offerings than I'd like, but I checked our site this morning and our online fitment guide should be up to date relative to Corvette fitments now. Automotive batteries are one of the most-recycled consumer products in North America, if not the most-recycled at around 99% or more. Many car batteries manufactured today at plants like you visited use recycled materials from old batteries- lead and poly, although due to the production requirements of Optima batteries, we use nothing but 99.99% pure virgin lead and poly and always have, which also helps our batteries perform better and last longer.
FireRoc, that is an impressive story on your C6 and I wish you had a photo or two, as I have thousands of C6 photos, but almost none in cold weather and I enjoy seeing cars being driven. speed4tu, there are far more than just three manufacturers of automotive batteries, although there is a “Big 3” that makes most of them. I would also encourage folks to double-check the label on the batteries they believe are made in the USA, as that isn't always the case. We performed hundreds of free battery upgrades before the SEMA show and I pulled at least a couple of batteries from vehicles that I often hear folks claim are made in the USA, even though the label on some of them clearly shows a foreign country of origin.
Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries
Johnson Controls did acquire the Optima brand almost 20 years ago and the quality of our products and the length of our free replacement warranty has only increased under their ownership. I don't say that based on my personal opinion, but based on everything I've seen firsthand as an employee of the company- a brand-new production facility, significant improvements in the production process itself that have significantly increased product consistency and continued innovations in new products designed to perform even better and last even longer than the competition.
I know some brands get sold off and compromised while a company milks what's left of a brand's reputation, but those examples don't follow anything that I've witnessed with our brand. We still manufacture all of our own batteries in our own production facility and they are the only batteries made there. We never outsource production, re-spec or re-brand our batteries for any of our retail partners- all common tactics and compromises used by companies looking to maximize profit on brands they don't have a long-term investment in. In the interest of full disclosure, our parent corporation announced the sale of their entire battery division yesterday, which I expect will fuel more unfounded and unsubstantiated speculation about our brand, but that goes with the territory.
JerryU, I wish our website worked as well as our batteries. Updating the fitment guides on thousands of vehicle combinations is a long process that often lags further behind product offerings than I'd like, but I checked our site this morning and our online fitment guide should be up to date relative to Corvette fitments now. Automotive batteries are one of the most-recycled consumer products in North America, if not the most-recycled at around 99% or more. Many car batteries manufactured today at plants like you visited use recycled materials from old batteries- lead and poly, although due to the production requirements of Optima batteries, we use nothing but 99.99% pure virgin lead and poly and always have, which also helps our batteries perform better and last longer.
FireRoc, that is an impressive story on your C6 and I wish you had a photo or two, as I have thousands of C6 photos, but almost none in cold weather and I enjoy seeing cars being driven. speed4tu, there are far more than just three manufacturers of automotive batteries, although there is a “Big 3” that makes most of them. I would also encourage folks to double-check the label on the batteries they believe are made in the USA, as that isn't always the case. We performed hundreds of free battery upgrades before the SEMA show and I pulled at least a couple of batteries from vehicles that I often hear folks claim are made in the USA, even though the label on some of them clearly shows a foreign country of origin.
Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries
11-15-2018, 12:49 PM
#30
Moderator
From the Wall Street Journal:
Johnson Controls International PLC is selling its automotive-battery business to a group led by Brookfield Business Partners LP for $13.2 billion in cash, the company said Tuesday.
Johnson Controls said it would reap proceeds of $11.4 billion after tax and transaction-related expenses. It expects to use $3 billion to $3.5 billion of that toward paying down debt, returning the remainder to shareholders.
Brookfield, which is joining with Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, has been in talks with Johnson Controls for weeks, grinding through the details of the deal.
Some analysts thought a deal would be announced last Thursday as part of Johnson Controls’ fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report. Talks were still ongoing, but there remained a question as to whether a deal with Brookfield would happen, according to people familiar with the matter.
Bankers running the process invited*Apollo Global Management*APO*-0.14%*LLC, an early contender, to rebid for the asset, The Wall Street Journal reported. Apollo had initially offered around $13 billion, some of the people said. But in the end, Johnson Controls was able to reach a deal with Brookfield.
The deal, which is expected to close by June 30, is the latest in a string of double-digit billion-dollar buyouts that private-equity firms have announced this year as they find ways to spend the more than $1 trillion in cash they have raised from investors.
...
Brookfield Business Partners, the publicly listed private-equity vehicle of Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management Inc., specializes in buying businesses related to real estate and infrastructure. In January, it announced a $4.6 billion deal for Westinghouse Electric Co.
Johnson Controls is an industrial and technology conglomerate with headquarters in Cork, Ireland. In March, it said it was exploring alternatives for its battery business. After the sale, Johnson Controls will be focused on its buildings business, which provides products related to ventilation, cooling, security and fire safety for buildings.
Johnson Controls’ power-solutions business, the world’s largest maker of automotive batteries, generated $8 billion in revenue and $1.68 billion in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the year ended Sept 30, 2018. The unit has 15,000 employees.
Johnson Controls to Sell Auto Battery Unit to Brookfield Business Partners for $13.2 Billion
Cash sale will allow Ireland-based seller to focus on its buildings operations, its CEO says
Johnson Controls International PLC is selling its automotive-battery business to a group led by Brookfield Business Partners LP for $13.2 billion in cash, the company said Tuesday.
Johnson Controls said it would reap proceeds of $11.4 billion after tax and transaction-related expenses. It expects to use $3 billion to $3.5 billion of that toward paying down debt, returning the remainder to shareholders.
Brookfield, which is joining with Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, has been in talks with Johnson Controls for weeks, grinding through the details of the deal.
Some analysts thought a deal would be announced last Thursday as part of Johnson Controls’ fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report. Talks were still ongoing, but there remained a question as to whether a deal with Brookfield would happen, according to people familiar with the matter.
Bankers running the process invited*Apollo Global Management*APO*-0.14%*LLC, an early contender, to rebid for the asset, The Wall Street Journal reported. Apollo had initially offered around $13 billion, some of the people said. But in the end, Johnson Controls was able to reach a deal with Brookfield.
The deal, which is expected to close by June 30, is the latest in a string of double-digit billion-dollar buyouts that private-equity firms have announced this year as they find ways to spend the more than $1 trillion in cash they have raised from investors.
...
Brookfield Business Partners, the publicly listed private-equity vehicle of Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management Inc., specializes in buying businesses related to real estate and infrastructure. In January, it announced a $4.6 billion deal for Westinghouse Electric Co.
Johnson Controls is an industrial and technology conglomerate with headquarters in Cork, Ireland. In March, it said it was exploring alternatives for its battery business. After the sale, Johnson Controls will be focused on its buildings business, which provides products related to ventilation, cooling, security and fire safety for buildings.
Johnson Controls’ power-solutions business, the world’s largest maker of automotive batteries, generated $8 billion in revenue and $1.68 billion in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the year ended Sept 30, 2018. The unit has 15,000 employees.
